Masking and UNmasking

Isn't it interesting how the masking and unmasking we do at costume parties mirrors what is going on in the world around us? The green leaves that sprouted in spring and came to fullness in summer now turn colors and fall to the ground, leaving only the skeletons of the trees contrasted against the sky. 

During the year people see us in different ways. One mask might be our professional status, the face which others see as we present ourselves as skilled individuals. Another face is our personal self where we engage in our relationships, hobbies, activities and other pursuits. Then we have our spiritual persona where we follow our spiritual path or our religious rituals. 

Yet, at the heart of it all, there is simply the person who embodies all of this. Where others may see only one of these aspects of us, few see all of them. 

Standing in our sacred space, reflecting on our place in the world, we choose which aspect of our persona we choose to present next. Consciously choosing what is next we may emphasize a different aspect of our professional practice, relationships, avocations and spiritual practices. 

So the metaphor of masks at parties reveals truth. The characters we choose to inhabit for an evening at a party is a playful way of trying on some other character or characteristics that we wish to experience. 

The masks we wear may be revealing the truth of the direction we desire. Yes, I know that one thought may be that this is only an evening's entertainment.

Now look again, for there is a root of truth that appeals to us when we choose to read the same kinds of books, the same kinds of movies and are fascinated by the same kinds of stories over and over again. There are common threads that appeal to our sense of who we are and what kind of world we want what kind of life we want, how we would like to see ourselves as a person. 

Masking is a way of looking at the world through different eyes for a while and letting others see us differently for a while. As we all have experienced, this can be very enlivening and enlightening. And that is why we look forward to doing it. 

Knowing this about ourselves is revealing of inner truths as we enjoy our revelry. Knowing this about Halloween is like appreciating the difference between soul cakes and trick or treat.

You see in the old days, at Halloween, visitors would come to visit and sing songs, say prayers or tell stories about those who had died this year and the hosts would offer them soul cakes and drinks in appreciation. The Celts called this day Samhain and it marked the beginning of winter. They would also set a place at the table for the person who had died, and this was called the dumb supper.

Ironically, in a far a way country which we now call Mexico, on that very same day of the year, the Celebration was called La Dia de Los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. And on this day too, the dead were honored with their favorite food and people told stories to remember them and wish them well on their journey into the next world, and like the Celts, they also bake special breads just for this holiday.

In both cases, the honoring of the dead was also a celebration of life. The Day of the Dead prominently features skeletons dancing, affirming that life goes on on another level. 

So the sweetness of life and the recognition of the various levels of self that we consider on this holiday offers a great insight into what life means to us, how we see ourselves and the impact we have on others. Masks and treats of this holiday are other aspects of self hidden in plain sight. And the pleasure is that all of this can be enjoyed with a great deal of fun, illumination and imagination. It is delicious, isn't it? 

Gaining Control by losing control. How does this make sense?

We have all heard of that expression "one day at a time." I am getting an exercise in that right now as I continue to live where I live without a lease and without knowing what will happen until someone buys the property and announces their intentions. So each day I get up and give thanks for the opportunity to live here and for having another day of life. Whether I get to stay or have to move will be a decision that is out of my hands at this time. I appreciate each day for what it is and I do what I need to do every day.

It takes a lot of courage to trust that things will work out without knowing the answers to all our questions. It also takes a lot of courage to be open to possible developments that we had not anticipated. Actually, doing some research now is revealing some patterns that I had only been vaguely aware of before. At this moment I am keeping those discoveries to myself until I see how they all add up and how they may influence future choices. Suffice it to say that I am making discoveries because these factors are causing me to research and reconsider what I know and what I prefer.

Face it, it can be unnerving when we have a plan and it unfolds in a different manner than we expected because it took a different turn.

We all like it when things go according to our plans. But sometimes, it just happens that someone else makes a decision or takes an action that sets in motion a chain of events and next thing you know, your schedule has changed and your plans have changed.

Be patient. The changes work out just fine. Just like that old saying about when one door closes and another opens.

Sometimes we gain control when we lose control. Here is a simple example of a fun way to experience this. I used to lead drumming circles and still use the drums with people who want a different kind of meditation experience. By just listening and following what we hear, we feel the music and our minds are just following that track. Malidoma Some, an African drummer and shaman whom I had the pleasure of encountering says that "a person who has trouble with drumming has trouble with listening."

Consider that for a moment. When we become more aware and pay attention to the signs we pick up from all around us, we find new paths. We learn melodies that we did not know. Fresh thoughts come to us. And we learn to work with others more beautifully, more harmoniously. We play together, listening to each other, we find a groove and that frees our mind to travel. And we would never have discovered those paths had we not opened our ears to listen.

So you are not drumming, you say? All drumming comes back to the first drum, our heartbeat, our breath. As we are more observant and aware of our surroundings, we perceive in ways that were once not visible to us. Hidden in plain sight is also revealed by listening to things that we have not been tuning into before.

It's also interesting how sometimes pieces of information come to us that help us make decisions that we were not even searching for. Guess all you can say is that the guiding influences in our life must have intended for us to have those, whether we call those guiding influences God, Goddess, spirit guides, ancestors, angels or something else. So here we are. Once again making a decision that veers off our original course. Is that bad? No. Making changes often leads to finding a better way to do things.

If we allow things to come to us, they will. Sometimes not being certain will get us where we want to be, except that the process of discovery reveals that we are in a place that we did not know we wanted to be but it is working out well although it was unexpected.

And we can gain control by losing control.



* A note about the photos. The image on top is the 4 of Wands from Ciro Marchetti's Tarot of Dreams which is one of the decks I read with all the time. The bottom photo is Layne Redmond, one of my teachers in the world of drumming.

Is Your Heart As Light as a Feather?

In the Egyptian mythology, the goddess Maat weighs a person's heart, which they equated with the soul, at the time of their death, and if their heart is light as a feather, that person gets to move on to the next level of consciousness, the next level of existence.

Is your heart as light as a feather? Do you do the things that make your heart sing? Or do you plod through life not believing that you could be more or do more? Have you ever said things like "I hate my job, but at least it's a paycheck?" Have you ever said "My marriage really sucks, it has been that way for years but I don't want to leave until I get a better offer?" Have you ever said "I have always wanted to dance, but I don't think I am coordinated enough?" Have you ever said "I have always wanted to see that place, but no one wants to go with me?" Have you ever said "I have always wanted to learn more about that, but I never seem to have the time?"

Your heart will never be as light as a feather until you ask different questions and get different answers.

All of us can make our hearts light as feathers if we choose from love instead of fear. We can make our hearts lighter if we are kind to other people. We can make our hearts lighter if we do things that bring more joy into our life.

When we are living with joy and love, we are radiant and others can see that inner light glow through us. When we are living with light in our hearts, we enjoy all aspects of life: our work, our relationships, our play, our life in this world.

Changing our thinking is the first step on the way to lightening our heart. Positive thinking can light the light. Would you like to make your heart as light as a feather? How do you think it would feel to live that way?

Celebrating the M Days

May is the month of M days. After kicking off the month with high spirited Mayday Maypole dances, the month then brings us Mother's Day and we wrap it up with Memorial Day.

With each of the M days, we return to the heart of matters. Each of the three M days is about heart. We begin the month with exuberant energy pouring off us, dancing for what we really want. It makes a difference. When we work up a sweat going for what we want, we are following our heart's desires. Is it even possible to work up a sweat for matters that we do not really care about? So we work up the energy to bring our dreams into reality.

Mother's Day is an opportunity for us to express gratitude to our mother. The purpose is simple yet profound. You don't really have to buy anything to express your feelings. It is simply taking the time to do so. As we examine our own story on this planet in this lifetime, lessons can be derived from the story of our mother and father. Reflecting on this story and the related stories can be useful in sharpening our vision of our own future. When Mother's Day is an opportunity to tell stories, there is an opportunity for enlightenment.

As we wrap up the month with Memorial Day, we give honor and pay our respects to those who have died in war. Begun as a day of healing after the Civil War, it was later expanded to include those who died in all wars in which Americans were involved. Then it also expanded generally to remembering our dead. It was a natural progression. I suppose many people who were going to the cemetery to place flowers on the graves of military veterans also figured it would be a good time to stop at other family members graves.

Memorial Day is a potent holiday because of course, we cannot conjure up the memories of wars without also bringing up feelings about why we ever got involved in those wars. I have hope that in the future we will be much more reluctant to go to war and much more skeptical of those who urge us to do so. Of course, I, like John Lennon, imagine different futures for us all.

In fact, those of us who are seers have accepted the challenge of seeing things differently, of being able to interpret the stories differently, of being able to see what others are missing. It is what we agreed to do with our abilities.

We do not always want to see what we see, and sometimes we do not like what we see, but as seers, we take a look and then report back to the one who is asking us questions.

It is our nature to like questions. I started out by picking up a deck and asking myself what can a deck of cards do? I started doing energy healing on others because I asked if people really could do that. I started to learn about past lives after I asked the questions about whether it was real and whether it mattered. I found the answers to the questions were extremely gratifying.

And here we are, celebrating the magnificent M days in the month of May.

So do a little dance to energize your dreams. You can start right where you are. Right there, in the privacy of your home, move around to call to your spirit guides and send your intentions off into the universe. Funny how the whole world seems a little brighter when your clear intentions are empowered by energetic movement. Signal to everyone that you are ready to get moving.

And if you enjoy dancing with other people, there are always places to go and do that too. Take time to reflect, then get up and move, stirring up the energy that will advance you in the direction of your dreams.

Shadows Don't Make a Sound

Shadows are silent partners that witness everything we do. The light that shines on us allows the shadow to mirror all our actions, sometimes in larger than life images.

Our shadow follows us. We are the ones who make decisions, take the actions, and lead the way. Our shadow simply repeats and reaffirms our movements. A shadow can provide an outline that emphasizes our movements.

Now some people use the term shadow in an entirely different context, meaning the dark side of a person's personality, their bad behaviors or wrong choices. But I am not a fan of this theory.

You see, I think that everything we do, we consciously choose. If we choose to engage in a behavior that others think of as dark, it may simply be that our reason for choosing was formed in a way that others may not agree with or understand.

There is no "Devil" that made me do anything. Or you. We make us do things. We choose. We always have free will.

This shadow, you see, is simply the space in which our actions are seen. Shadows are one dimensional. The light we are facing lets a phantom image of us linger. The shadow is not an image of us in living color. It is not the person explaining why they did what they did, or why they thought this was a good idea. The shadow is simply trailing after the fact. If you see a shadow, it is not the same as seeing the person.

Have you ever noticed that even though we might be singing, our shadows don't make a sound?

Out of Context

The story of Augustin Hadelich, who I wrote about yesterday, touches on the story of another great young violinist, Joshua Bell. Some experts see the two as comparable talents.

In 2007, Joshua Bell was put on a baseball cap and ordinary clothes and stood playing Bach on a Stradivarius in a Washington subway station. The thousand or so people who passed by while he was playing obviously thought he was just a street musician playing for tips.

He was in Washington to play at the Library of Congress and he regularly sells out symphony halls, commanding $100 a ticket. Yet, that morning in the subway, no one recognized him.

The Washington Post put him up to the idea to see what would happen.

How often do we fail to recognize talent when it is out of context?

Is a musician only good if they are booked into a concert hall? Is an artists only good if a gallery or museum features their work? Is a writer only good if a major publishing house publishes their books? Can we recognize true beauty when it pops up in unexpected places? Do we have trouble recognizing true beauty and true talent when it pops up in unexpected people?

The Healing Energy of Readings

There is an energy in every reading that is unique. It is always a combination of the energy of the reader meeting the energy of the querant. When the energy of the querant is engaged and open, more pathways open up and the reading accelerates, covering the territory more deeply.

Readings can help heal a person. Remember that thoughts can influence feelings and energies, and if a person comes away from a reading with inspiration, hope, or a more robust and vibrant outlook, a healing has begun, and will be continued by the application of free will on the querant's part.

Neutrality gives the reader a bird's eye view of what is going on. Many times I have seen the enlivening effect that comes when a person gets validation in a reading. That can also be healing given that a person gains peace of mind when they know that there is some agreement with their point of view even though everyone else seemed to share a different point of view.

Because of empathic powers, some readers are more adept at transferring healing energy during the course of a reading.

Reading energies can also stimulate a person to look at their situation in novel ways and other perspectives, thus opening them to creative solutions to their predicaments.

Readings can also be unique tools for helping view a situation clearly, because the art is both abstract and has a bearing on what is real.

Healing must sometimes begin with a different perspective before the new energies are allowed to enter and welcomed in.

Healing comes in many ways. A reading is one good way to experience it.

Drawing Our Own Map

As we take action on what we need to do next, we may draw on things we have done before, but in a different way. We may recall people we have known, and suddenly realize different lessons they have taught us, lessons we may not have realized we were getting at the time.

Retrospect offers different lessons than the present. Perspective adds to what we know. There are things we have learned that we didn't know we learned. It is cumulative.

That is why we might feel that a choice or a decision is familiar. We may have visited this choice in our thoughts many times in dreams or in real life experiences, and now we are perceiving them in a whole new way.

Perhaps I am a good reader because many jobs I have done in my life required that I be able to read people, but in different contexts and different settings.

Our ancestors had some guidance on what plants were good to eat by watching the birds and the animals. We get some lessons by observing what other people are doing that works. We have developed some skills by hard lessons, and some by easy lessons.

As we sense the flow of energy, we make our way. We choose to abandon efforts where we feel thwarted, and go with the flow that takes us forward.

Staying open to guidance and picking up clues from our guides, we notice fresh opportunities. We will usually have attachments to things we have done before and things that are comfortable. Survival means being willing to leave some of that behind, even clear it out, so that our path ahead is open.

Watch how you feel, and watch what happens when we draw our own map. You may be surprised at which way you are heading.

Light, Shadows and Love Without Measure

When you see a face that looks familiar, what do you do? Do familiar faces make you feel like you are getting a "do-over" or a reminder of a past experience that provided a powerful lesson? So if this face belongs to someone else, it stirs feelings in you, but different feelings in them.

It is the play of shadow and light that illuminates our visions. When we see what is on the screen that plays in our mind, how many of these shadows form the movies that we watch?

It is all shadow and light, you know. Movies, they are all shadow and light. Memories. They are all shadow and light. Look at how we look when we think we see something and we are awakened to the possibilities.

Have you noticed that look that sometimes lights up another person's eyes when they think they have recognized you? You know that puzzled look like they are trying to remember where they saw you before?

Then after you speak and you know that you don't know this person, they still have this look in their eyes like they still are remembering who they are remembering even though you are not the one they were thinking of.

It is all shadow and light.

How much of the world we inhabit is shadows and light? Who is remembering what? It is all shadow and light.

Do you ever feel like you are walking through a forest and cannot find your way out? Do the trees look like the ones you passed coming in, yet the more you look, the more you cannot tell? Is there an in and an out?

What frequency is normal? What does it mean that we recognize but do not recognize? Is it that we are finally getting the lessons?

There are names that go with every face. There are faces we associate with all the phases of our life. There are times when we get an opportunity to do it over, and do it right this time.

There are faces of light and shadow, there are sorrows of great depth, and loves without measure. In our waking moments, our aliveness brings us to a new state of awareness, constantly. They speak to us of second chances.

The wheel turns, but not without giving us another look. Karma, coincidence, sorrow, joy, light and shadow. It is your movie. It is my movie. It is our movie.

Yes, there have been sorrows of great depth, and these shadows are the reminders that we are still alive and that there is also love without measure, and with these we can fashion new pictures, new images, new movies. It is all shadow and light. And love without measure is the only balm that lets us start over with a clean slate.

There are no ghosts in our shadow land that do not respond to love. Yes, it takes some of us longer than others to recognize the true faces of the shadows.

Resuming Memory

How many times do we find ourselves in the position of doing something that we need to do, and then we remember we used to do this more frequently? How many times have we suddenly remembered to do something that at one time we considered a good regular practice?

How many times have we thought that we have wanted to get into work that was more aligned with our true spirit but we put it off?

How many times have we found ourselves in a job or position that we know we are not happy in, but we have resigned ourselves to it, because it is hard to find any job in this economy, so we settle?

All work is important, but in different ways at different times. When we are doing a job for survival because it was the only one we could find, it is still something we do efficiently so that we make some money. Then there are the jobs that we really want to do because it speaks to us, we feel that we are using our skills for a higher purpose.

So when we get ourselves back on track with what we wanted to do, it is not like we are learning what to do, but rather remembering what we used to know, and do and then resuming it.

Perhaps what we are remembering is how to move back on track toward what we want, even if we are operating in survival mode now.

Of course we can reset our goals. We do it all the time, but it is so much clearer when we do it consciously. All of us have had some experience of thinking that one career path would be what we wanted, but then we changed directions.

We need to take the pressure off ourselves sometimes. Example. If we have been frustrated getting that book we want to write started, then remind our self that our other work is our current source of income, and that writing the book is a hobby for now. That way we may free our self to get started by just loosening up and digging in. Then, when we have something to show, we can go to the next step.

Sometimes we are remembering our dreams and remembering our desires. Sometimes we are jogged awake and reawaken a dream that we forgot a while ago.

Rather than engaging in something new, we are simply resuming a memory and acting on it. There is an energy that is often gained if we reaffirm and earlier dream and pursue it with a renewed energy and more mature approach, the seasoning that comes from experience.

Yes, there will be times when we have let go of a dream because it is no longer inspiring us as it once did. That is when we let go, consciously, and then free our energy to set a new course.

The Quiet in the MIddle of the Noise

During the holidays what I enjoy most is to sleep late, go dancing or work out in the evenings, and in between, just read, watch movies, listen to music and be able to enjoy a cup of tea without worrying about having to finish it and rush off.

A perfect time for cleaning out closets and doing a deep cleaning. Maybe try cooking something differently today.

Little things prompt reflection for me, like the fact that the busy street now only has a car on it every once in a while. It is so quiet, compared to normal.

I like the way lights twinkle from quite a distance over the snow and fog against the mountains. The lights give it the sense of the skyline being personally painted for you as shimmering lights continue to define the profile of the buildings and mountains.

Where the quiet settles in, you can see the audience sitting down waiting for the next story. These are the invisible audience that is always waiting to see what you do next. They are just as ready to applaud for us as someone else.

Capture the essence of the lights, capture the inspiration and hope they transmit. A quiet moment provides time for a new idea to germinate, then for dreams to come into sharper focus.

Every touch now is a memory. Every touch now is a light. It is the light in the middle of winter, soft, distant, creative and sweet. Like the embers that glow and have enough power to get the fire roaring. The quiet in the middle.

When Time Stands Still

Poised right on the edge, the moment seems eternal. You know that once you decide and move, everything changes. But for this moment of deliberation, everything is still. The moment before everything is set into motion, the world seems to bring up a steady stream of images and feelings that come up rapidly and clearly, until we find the one that triggers our decision, and then, in that instant the decision is clear.

All the facts, opinions and consideration have been stacked up and counted beforehand, and now, in this moment of decision, it is these images and feelings that bring our decision, and our action, into focus.

Once we have stepped off that edge, that moment of perfect stillness, we then act rapidly to put our decision into play and depart from that place of indecision.

It is incredible to savor that moment, because we know that we own it, and there are people and events awaiting our decision. And there is always a decision, because not making a decision is making a decision. Eventually, the moment comes, and we either decide or someone else decides for us.

There is such power at that moment. Savor it. Do you feel like you are having one of those moments now?

What Went Right

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday where the whole idea is to give thanks for all the good things we have received in life. What a beautiful and simple thing to do.

Notice how it puts a smile on your face and magnetizes you for more good things to come.

Often when people look back on their life, they remember things that went wrong, mistakes they made and they think to themselves, if only I had that to do over. That kind of thinking could lead into a downward spiral just as easily as an upward spiral.

So, instead, think about the things that went right, the times in your life when everything came together and you got great results. Notice how you experience an upward spiraling of energy.

Re-groove your thoughts to focus on what went right and look for ways to do more of that. And give some time and energy to those people in your life who helped things go right.

Take few moments to review and look for the victorious moments. Remember how it felt and begin to experience that feeling again. Those feelings will lead to actions, and the actions will bring results.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lifetimes Within Lifetimes

Tonight is a time when some spiritual traditions remember those they know who have crossed the veil this year, and for me this year, the veil opened a long time and stayed open. I could sense the opening earlier than usual, and more powerfully than usual.

During this time, there has been a growing influence in my reading sphere, opening the way even deeper. Saying farewell to those who have crossed always feels like it brings the closure to just the right note.

Since this is a perfect time for reflection, it often seems as if there are lifetimes within lifetimes. When I think back on certain segments of my life, it feels as though I have lived more than one lifetime in this lifetime, and that it might actually have been some other person who lived through some of those other chapters, since I no longer feel or look like that person now.

Have you ever noticed how often when you listen to a recording of your own voice, you ask, "Do I really sound like that? Is that really my voice?" Yet how many times do we look in the mirror and ask, "Do I really look like that?" Photographs really startle us at times, when we do not easily match our photos with our memories.

It is almost easier at times to recall past lives and match our experiences and feelings to those long ago stories. Oddly, sometimes it seems easier to believe scenes of a life hundreds of years ago in a different time and place that it is to believe what we were doing 20 or 30 years ago. Sometimes we may feel strongly that we wished we had made a different choice at various turning points, but of course, it is never possible to go back and change them. All we can do is choose to proceed with full focus from where we are now to where we would like to be next.

At each juncture, we have the power of free will and free choice, and so if we have drawn wisdom or inspiration from our past, our powerful positive or negative motivations can shape what is next in our life.

What a perfect time to reflect on our past and peer into our future. Just as the colorful fall leaves give way to reveal the skeleton of the tree underneath, so our colorful stories give way to reveal the essence of our life.

I love pumpkins, pumpkin pie, violin music, red wine, smoke and colorful leaves. And I love all the stories, all of the stories, the magic of how the same story you have heard or told before may mean something different to you this time.

It is magic, isn't it?

Our Free Will

Did you ever consider the mystery of our free will? It is the essence of why some people are atheists. The logic is there, because if we have the free will to decide what to do with our lives, what does the existence of some divine beings matter?

I am not arguing for atheism, simply looking at the topic from many angles. No matter where we are in life right now, for better or worse, it is a result of our free will. Our choices.

I personally do believe in the divine, the supernatural and believe that there are mysteries in life we cannot explain. And the whole question of what life will be like after we die is something we will never know until we get there. I don't know what to believe abou all those stories, but I certainly am not worrying about them now.

Beliefs are powerful things. They are motivators for us. We draw courage from them. Some people draw fear from their beliefs, and guilt. Other people draw joy from theirs. Whatever your beliefs, they will propel your actions.

So our free will represents our ability to either act on one set of beliefs we have formed and stick with it, or since our beliefs can also change over time as a result of our life experience, then our free will is our expression of our beliefs.

When we look at our own life, what we are seeing is the result of our free will choices and where they have brought us. Now consider that we can always change our beliefs and our free will choices, and thus we can change our lives. Right now.

We always have free will, both in wonderful situations and desperate situations. It is interesting to observe how sometimes our free will choices seem to contradict our beliefs, but of course, that is never so. Our free will choices can be nothing other than our acting on our beliefs, and our expressions of our selves. And, of course, we always have the ability to change both beliefs and free will. Most of us have. Some by a little, some by a lot.

How do you see your choices?

Soothing the Throat

This evening my throat was feeling a little raw, so I knew that I needed to do few things to address it. First was the old standby, gargling with warm salt water. Then there were cough drops, cough syrup and then a few mugs of hot tea.

A hot bath with Epsom salts, eucalyptus oil and hyssop oil really felt good as well. Then I felt like something a bit more gentle for the spirit would help as well, so I chose a biography of the author and Trappist monk Thomas Merton to watch, and kept getting these little surprises throughout when they featured comments by Buddhist monks he had dialogue with, Thich Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama.

There was also a sequence that made me smile when Merton's publishers said that they were not sure that his books would sell, and they were amazed at how well they sold. That shows a difference in the way commercial publishing works these days. Then, if the publisher thought that the author had something worthwhile to say, they would publish it even if they were not sure it would be popular. Today, the trend in publishing is to try and only print what is popular. But that does not always prove to be a winner either, because the public's taste can be fickle and ephemeral.

It was also interesting that some people who knew Merton commented that people were not always happy with what he wrote when he spoke out about subjects like peace. He had the clarity of mind to point out that his church had no problem taking a hard line stance on abortion, because they see it as the death of a person, yet they took no stand against using nuclear weapons which could kill millions of people at a time.

There, of course, were also people who had to stretch themselves to understand how or why a Christian monk could find such common ground with Buddhist monks.

In some way, the peaceful spirit emanating from this story helped calm my throat as well. I finished off the evening with some classical music which was very soothing, and then it started to rain, which is always a healing sound for me.

There are a lot of ways to help soothe physical discomforts, using resources from within and without. Healing often works in mysterious ways.

It is important to do more treatments of this sort tomorrow as well, since I will be talking a lot Friday, Saturday and Sunday, doing readings and giving a talk. My voice is important in my work.

So this is a time of charging up the batteries for a large amount of activity, so that I am ready when I need to be.

Altars of Acceptance

Someone recently remarked to me that she never saw so much Halloween stuff as she has in Colorado. She thinks that people go crazy over it out here, and she can't imagine any reason why since it is nothing more than a day for kids to get candy.

Of course, there is much more to it than that. although in many people's minds, it has been reduced to nothing more than trick or treating and costume parties, it has very deep metaphysical roots and it heralds an important turning in our lives every year. And that is why people really feel drawn to celebrate it for a month. Right now, this is the last of September and there will be corn mazes, hay mazes and pumpkin patches up through the end of October.

The roots of the holiday go back to ancestral times. All of our ancestral times. As far back as caveman days people have felt that it is important to honor the dead and use special ceremonies to mark their passing, remember their lives, and wish them well on their way to the next world.

Why wouldn't they? Birth and Death are the the two gateways we all have to pass through. Our families and friends are always the ones at these gateways. They help celebrate when we arrive, and they help mourn when we leave.

In modern times, as many people have left folklore and ceremonial ways slip from their grasp, some cultures have retained them powerfully, contributing universal traditions that still resonate and help people heal from their grief while wishing the spirit on to what's next for them.

Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance were the names that Elizabeth Kubler Ross gave to the Five Stages of Grief. Making an altar for the one who has crossed over is a powerful way to get to acceptance.

Birth, death and rebirth. Our gateways. Our inescapable gateways. The certain markers of our journey. These are the portals we pass through, and we cannot choose otherwise. So our only choice is to recognize the gateway for what it is.

We either make altars then warm ourselves at the bonfires, or we carry more weight than we need to for many years to come.

So this is how it happened. Some people chose to lose their grip on the ancient ways and only remembered to serve refreshments to the mourners and those who come to give solace and bring light through the storytelling and the music and the prayers. Except over the years they forgot to do all the other things and just served refreshments.

The refreshments are a wonderful seasonal taste that reminds us of the sweetness of life, after we have done our rituals.

Whether they are large or small, elaborate or simple, we need to make our altars. We need to honor those who have crossed and send them through the gateway on waves of our good energy. Those who make their altars enjoy their peace better than those who do not. It is at the altar that we find acceptance. It is our time and place to express our grief. It is a far more wise, powerful and ancient root ritual than simply giving candy to kids.

Here today, we can feel the strength and beauty of these ceremonies through the Mexican festivities known as the Day of the Dead. The Celtic equivalent, called Samhain, which gave birth to Halloween, are both celebrated on the same day of the year. Two powerful ancient cultures that have continued to set aside time every year to ritually remember their dead in the same time frame as giving thanks for the harvest, and preceding the time when families and friends are drawn together to celebrate and welcome in the future.

Why should we still pay attention to these holidays? Who does not know someone who has died? Who has had trouble acknowledging their grief, letting go of it and moving onward? We need to release their spirits so that they can move on, and we need to release ourselves so that we can move on.

Although the primary focus is on people we know who have died this year, people sometimes use these same ceremonies to say farewell to an animal who was an important part of their life as well.

Remembering and Forgetting

It seems as though our life is often punctuated by episodes of remembering and forgetting. It's sort of necessary, like rebooting your computer, cell phone or your wireless router every so often.

We remember the long list of things we have to do every day, but sometimes we have to reboot to remember what is important to us. An example of that? When a person loses their job and has to reinvent themselves. Sometimes we have to search our memory for what it is that we might like to do, and how we might go about creating a way of making a living with that. Sometimes it is about remembering what it really is that makes our heart sing, rather than the career path we were on.

Sometimes we forget where we left our keys or some other thing that we need, and after turning things upside down we remember and find them again.

Other times when we rediscover something we used to like to do and haven't done for a while, we remember what it was that gave us so much joy. We remember, we forget, then we remember again.

We remember the important people in our life, and sometimes we need to be reminded why they are important to us. Sometimes they remind us and sometimes we remind ourselves. If we forget, something or somebody will remind us.

Even though some people are only important in our lives for a time, remember to express gratitude for them too. Some events and people are better forgotten and some are better remembered. Yet, it is important to express gratitude for it all.

Mirror Images

The dynamics of reading for another person are fast moving and ever changing. They shift as rapidly as the light refracting from a mirror of the facets of a gemstone.

The person requesting the reading immediately scans the images on the cards in a layout, connecting the images in ways that make sense to them.

The reader, meanwhile, being unattached to the same feelings and information, uses his intuition to pick up the connections. from among all the possible connections.

The art of the reader is to pick up the subtle energies of the seeker and follow the prompts of the spirit guides he works with, being guided to discern from among all the possible combinations of meanings, which ones are pertinent to this situation.

The seeker then may often find themselves taking the pictures apart and reassembling them to find different ways to tell their stories and different ways to extract meaning from them.

The reader, because of their neutrality, can also help spot new patterns, since they are not attached to any associations the seeker may have in mind.

So the process is really a unique way to hold up a mirror to our selves and get a fresh look at what is really happening, sometimes casting it in a whole new light.

Destiny, Destination

Destiny lays out maps for us, and by following them, we reach our destinations. It is like looking out over the landscape and feeling drawn to go this way or that. Sometimes when we are lost, we simply get a feeling that we should turn left here, or turn right. We always have free will and we use it every time we make a choice or a decision. The two do not cancel each other out.

When we feel that something is the right thing for us to do, we may not know why until later. That is where we see the panoramic view, rather than the little street or road we are currently driving on.

Destiny is also what gives us a sense of larger purpose in life. Can we look at the larger patterns in our life and see themes that repeat themselves? Do our decisions keep leading us in the same direction? Do we see our smaller movements and decisions fitting together? Do they lead where we think they are leading? Does the map look familiar? Does the terrain look familiar? Can we sense what is ahead?